Brave New World - hosted by Vasant Dhar

Ep 99: Vasant Dhar on Thinking With Machines, Hosted by Joel Roberts Sep 12, 2025

Joel Roberts, former host of a prime-time talk show on KABC Radio, Los Angeles, takes over hosting duties to talk Vasant Dhar about his upcoming book and Roberts' own scepticism regarding all things AI.

Useful Resources: 1. Joel Roberts. 2. Thinking With Machines, The Brave New World With AI - Vasant Dhar3. AI and The Paper Clip Problem. 4. Dr. Jules White. 5. Geoffrey Hinton. 6. Yuval Noah Harari. 7. Augmented Intelligence - The Future of Generative AI and Computing. 8. How The Mind Works - Steven Pinker9. Brave New World Episode 94: Anil Seth On The Science of Consciousness. 10. Backpropagation 11. Brave New World Episode 98: There's no I in AI, Ben Shneiderman on The Evolution and State of Artificial Intelligence. 12. Brave New World Episode 97: Alex Wiltschko on Digitizing Scent. 13. Brave New World Episode 81: Alex Wiltschko on The Sense Of Smell.14. Joy Milne. 15. Brave New World Episode 89: Missy Cummings on Making AI Safe. 16. TEDx Talk - When Should We Trust Machines: Vasant Dhar. 17. The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma: Mustafa Suleyman. 18. Luis Elizondo.

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Ep 98: There's no I in AI, Ben Shneiderman on The Evolution and State of Artificial Intelligence Aug 14, 2025

Useful Resources: 1. Ben Shneiderman, Professor Emeritus, University Of Maryland. 2. Richard Hamming and Hamming Codes. 3. Human Centered AI - Ben Shneiderman. 4. Allen Newell and Herbert A. Simon. 5. Raj Reddy and the Turing Award. 6. Doug Engelbart. 7. Alan Kay. 8. Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 9. Software psychology: Human factors in computer and information systems - Ben Shneiderman. 10. Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction - Ben Shneiderman. 11. Direct Manipulation: A Step Beyond Programming Languages - Ben Shneiderman. 12. Steps Toward Artificial Intelligence - Marvin Minsky. 13. Herbert Gelernter. 14. Computers And Thought - Edward A Feigenbaum and Julian Feldman. 15. Lewis Mumford. 15. Technics and Civilization - Lewis Mumford. 16. Buckminster Fuller. 17. Marshall McLuhan. 18. Roger Shank. 19. The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness - Jonathan Haidt. 20. John C. Thomas, IBM. 21. Yousuf Karsh, photographer. 22. Gary Marcus, professor emeritus of psychology and neural science at NYU. 23. Geoffrey Hinton. 24. Nassim Nicholas Taleb. 25. There Is No A.I. - Jaron Lanier. 26. Anil Seth On The Science of Consciousness - Episode 94 of Brave New World. 27. A 'White-Collar Blood Bath' Doesn't Have to Be Our Fate - Tim Wu 28. Information Management: A Proposal - Tim Berners-Lee 29. Is AI-assisted coding overhyped? : METR study 30. RLHF, Reinforcement learning from human feedback31. Joseph Weizenbaum 32. What Is Computer Science? - Allen Newel, Alan J. Perlis, Herbert A. Simon

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Ep 97: Alex Wiltschko on Digitizing Scent Jul 10, 2025

Alex Wiltschko, CEO and Founder of Osmo, returns to Brave New World on Episode 97 to discuss the developments in the field of mapping smell and what the future holds for olfactory AI.

Useful Resources: 1. Alex Wiltschko, Founder and CEO of OSMO. 2. Brave New World Episode 81: Alex Wiltschko On The Sense Of Smell. 3. StockX. 4. Gas Chromatography - Mass Spectrometry5. Brave New World Episode 90: Sandeep Robert Datta on Smell and The Brain6. Brave New World Episode 62: Dmitry Rinberg on the Mysteries of Smell7. The Science of Scent, Luca Turin's TED Talk. 8. Graph Neural Network9. Convolutional Networks on Graphs for Learning Molecular Fingerprints; paper by Dougal Maclaurin, David Duvenaud, Alán Aspuru-Guzik10. OSMO AI passes human performance in Odour Turing Test. 11. Giving Computers a Sense of Smell, Alex Wiltschko in conversation with Patrick O'Shaughnessy 12. A principal odour map unifies diverse tasks in olfactory perception, OSMO's paper in Science. 13. First Success, teleporting the scene of a Plum. 14. Generation, OSMO's fragrance company. 15. Industry report by Global Market Insights on the Global Fragrance Market. 16. Glossine, Wizerine and Fractalin; proprietary AI-generated scent molecules 17. An Anthropologist On Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales - Oliver Sacks

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Ep 96: Deogratias Niyizonkiza, Healing a Nation, One Village at a Time Jun 12, 2025

Episode 96 of Brave New World features Deogratias Niyizonkiza in conversation with Vasant Dhar. From surviving the genocide in Burundi to rebuilding lives through healthcare and education, Deo's journey is one of extraordinary resilience and purpose.

Useful Resources:1. Deogratias "Deo" Niyizonkiza, Founder and CEO, Village Health Works. 2. Strength In What Remains - Tracy Kidder. 3. Louis Rwagasore, Burundian Prince and Politician.4. Hutu, Tutsi and Twa, Ethnic Groups In Burundi. 5. The Assassination of Burundian President Melchior Ndadaye. 6. Rwanda Genocide of 1994. 7. Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe. 8. Termination of USAID.

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Ep 95: Peter Ward On The Evolution Of Life May 08, 2025

In Episode 95 of Brave New World, Palaeontologist Peter Ward returns to explore life's evolutionary journey and examine compelling possibilities for its future direction.

Useful Resources: 1. Peter Ward on Wikipedia and The University Of Washington. 2. Stephen Jay Gould. 3. Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and Nature Of History – Stephen Jay Gould. 4. Cambrian Explosion. 5. Burgess Shale. 6. Nick Lane. 7. Oxygen: The Molecule That Made The World – Nick Lane. 8. Life Ascending: The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution – Nick Lane. 9. David Catling on Wikipedia and the University Of Washington. 10. Eukaryote. 11. Lynn Margulis. 12. Carl Sagan. 13. Chemoreceptors. 14. My Octopus Teacher. 15. Pippa Ehrlich On The Mysteries of The Sea – Episode 77 Of Brave New World. 16. Methuselah Foundation and Methuselah Mice. 17. CRISPR. 18. Future Evolution – Peter Ward. 19. After Man: A Zoology Of The Future - Dougal Dixon. 20. Future Evolution with Alexis Rockman 21. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe – Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee. 22. Seth Shostak on Extraterrestrial Life – Episode 85 of Brave New World. 23. Drake Equation. 24. Endangered Species Act, Clean Air Act. 25. Daniel J. Evans. 26. David Battisti 27. Edward O. Wilson 28. Biophilia – Edward O. Wilson

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Ep 94: Anil Seth On The Science of Consciousness Apr 10, 2025

Neuroscientist Anil Seth explores how the brain constructs our sense of self and reality in Episode 94 of Brave New World with Vasant Dhar, offering insights on the boundary between perception and consciousness.

Useful Resources: 1. Anil Seth2. Being You: A New Science Of Consciousness – Anil Seth. 3. TED Talk: Your Brain Hallucinates Your Conscious Reality – Anil Seth. 4. Predictive Coding5. Hermann Helmhotz and Unconscious Interference. 6. Priming In Psychology. 7. Reality Is A Controlled Hallucination – Anil Seth. 8. Computational Functionalism. 9. How The Mind Works – Steven Pinker. 10. Ned Block, Co-Director, Centre for Mind, Brain and Consciousness, NYU. 11. Thomas Nagel. 12. Claude Shannon and Information Theory. 13. David Chalmers, Co-Director, Centre for Mind, Brain and Consciousness, NYU. 14. Panel Discussion at The World Science Festival, Moderated By Brain Green. 15. Stevan Harnard and the Symbol Grounding Problem. 16. Pippa Ehrlich On The Mysteries of The Sea – Episode 77 Of Brave New World. 17. A Tiger For Malgudi – RK Narayan. 18. Kevin Mitchell Makes A Case For Free Will – Episode 80 Of Brave New World. 19. Marcello Massimini20. Robert Sapolsky. 21. Robert Sapolsky on Free Will. 20. Compatibilism. 21. The Emergent Properties of The Connected Brain. 22. Aaron Schurger. 23. Benjamin Libett. 24. Readiness Potential.

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Ep 93: Uma Valeti on Cultivating Meat Mar 13, 2025

How do we get meat that is more nutritious, sustainable, and less cruel to animals? Dr Uma Valeti, a cardiologist turned CEO of Upside Foods, joins Vasant Dhar in episode 93 of Brave New World to discuss the future of cultivated meat.

Useful Resources: 1. Dr Uma Valeti, MD, Upside Foods. 2. Clean Meat - Paul Shapiro. 3. 'Animal Liberation NOW' - Peter Singer. 4. How India Eats, Vegetarians vs Non Vegetarians percentage in India. 5. Maneka Gandhi On Animal Rights – Episode 44 of Brave New World. 6. Peter Singer On Animal Liberation – Episode 74 of Brave New World. 7. Paul Shapiro on Growing Meat Without Animals – Episode 54 of Brave New World. 8. Sean Sullivan, IndieBio, CPT Capital and Unovis Capital. 9. Cargill, Tyson Foods and Norwest Foods International. 10. CRISPR. 11. The Florida lab-grown meat ban. 12. The Alabama lab-grown meat ban.

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Ep 92: Angela Hawken on Changing Government Feb 13, 2025

All meaningful reform happens when there is one smooth pipeline from research to policy to execution. Angela Hawken joins Vasant Dhar in episode 92 of Brave New World to discuss her work as both a thinker in academia and a doer with government. Useful resources 1. Angela Hawken at Marron Institute of Urban Management. 2. Solly Angel's Atlas of Urban Expansion. 3. Graduated Reintegration: Smoothing the Transition from Prison to Community -- Angela Hawken and Mark Kleiman. 4. Unorthodox Philanthropy. 5. Bias in Smart City Governance -- Constantine Kontokosta and Boyeong Hong. 6. The Civic Analytics program. 7. Litmus. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 91: Michael Levin on the New Frontiers of Biological Intelligence Jan 11, 2025

Memory, consciousness and the self aren't what you think they are. Michael Levin joins Vasant Dhar in episode 91 of Brave New World to explain why the distinction between machines and organisms will soon fall apart. Useful resources 1. Michael Levin at Tufts, Wikipedia, Twitter, Google Scholar and The Levin Lab. 2. There's Plenty of Room Right Here: Biological Systems as Evolved, Overloaded, Multi-scale Machines -- Joshua Bondard and Michael Levin. 3. Self-Improvising Memory: A Perspective on Memories as Agential, Dynamically Reinterpreting Cognitive Glue -- Michael Levin. 4. The Space Of Possible Minds -- Michael Levin. 5. Endless forms most beautiful 2.0 -- Wesley Clawson and Michael Levin. 6. My Octopus Teacher — Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 7. Pippa Ehrlich on the Mysteries of the Sea -- Episode 77 of Brave New World. 8. Turing Patterns. 9. Mark Solms' theory of consciousness -- SelfAwarePatterns. 10. Mark Solms on Consciousness. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 90: Sandeep Robert Datta on Smell and the Brain Dec 13, 2024

We take it for granted -- but we shouldn't: smell is incredibly powerful and plays a critical role in our lives. Sandeep Robert Datta joins Vasant Dhar in episode 90 of Brave New World to discuss what neuroscience has taught him about the power of smell. Useful resources: 1. Sandeep Robert Datta at Harvard, Datta Lab, LinkedIn and Google Scholar. 2. Alex Wiltschko on the Sense of Smell -- Episode 81 of Brave New World. 3. Dmitry Rinberg on the Mysteries of Smell -- Episode 62 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 89: Missy Cummings on Making AI Safe Nov 14, 2024

There's always risk at the cutting edge of technology. Driverless cars are awesome -- but can we rely on the tech? Missy Cummings joins Vasant Dhar in episode 89 of Brave New World to share her insights on why we need to proceed with caution. Also check out: 1. Missy Cummings on LinkedIn, Wikipedia, GMU and Google Scholar. 2. California Bans GM's Cruise Robotaxis After Near-Fatal Pedestrian Accident -- Justin Banner. 3. Setbacks and Prospects for Autonomous Vehicles -- Henry Petroski. 4. Joshua Brown, Who Died in Self-Driving Accident, Tested Limits of His Tesla -- Rachel Abrams & Annalyn Kurtz. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 88: Raghu Sundaram on Building a Great University Oct 10, 2024

He lifted The Stern School of Business up significantly in the rankings, and is now making NYU a major global player in higher education. Raghu Sundaram joins Vasant Dhar in episode 88 of Brave New World to share his learnings about higher education where so much is changing, and yet, some foundational truths persist. Useful resources: 1. Raghu Sundaram on LinkedIn, Wikipedia, Google Scholar and NYY Stern. 2. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet — Episode 15 of Brave New World. 3. The Future of Liberal Education — Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth). 4. Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost — Caitlin Zaloom. 5. Caitlin Zaloom on the Explosion of Student Debt -- Episode 37 of Brave New World. 6. Susan Dynarski's papers on education and student debt. 7. Degrees of Return: Estimating Internal Rates of Return for College Majors Using Quantile Regression -- Liang Zhang, Xiangmin Liu and Yitong Hu. 8. Law and Education in Our Modern World — Episode 5 of Brave New World (w John Sexton). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 87: Andrew McAfee on the Geek Mindset Sep 12, 2024

What does it mean to be geeky -- and how are geeks changing the world? Andrew McAfee joins Vasant Dhar in episode 87 of Brave New World to share his insights on how geeks have created a brave new innovation culture. Useful resources: 1. Andrew McAfee on Twitter, LinkedIn, Amazon, MIT and his own website. 2. The Geek Way -- Andrew McAfee. 3. The Second Machine Age -- Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee. 4. Elon Musk -- Walter Isaacson. 5. No Rules Rules -- Reed Hastings and Erin Meyer. 6. Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128 -- AnnaLee Saxenian. 7. The New Argonauts -- AnnaLee Saxenian. 8. What the Dormouse Said -- John Markoff. 9. John's Markoff's interview of Raj Reddy. 10. The Secret of Our Success -- Joseph Henrich. 11. The Knowledge Machine -- Michael Strevens. 12. When It Comes to Culture, Does Your Company Walk the Talk? -- Donald Sull, Stefano Turconi and Charles Sull. 13. The Paradigm Shifts in Artificial Intelligence -- Vasant Dhar. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 86: Natalie Foster on the Guarantee Aug 08, 2024

Imagine an America where the government provides a floor for all our needs, from housing to health care to college to an income. Natalie Foster joins Vasant Dhar in episode 86 of Brave New World to argue that such a shift is possible -- and the time to make it is now. Useful resources: 1. Natalie Foster on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, the Economic Security Project, the Aspen Institute and her own website. 2. The Guarantee: Inside the Fight for America's Next Economy -- Natalie Foster. 3. The Economic Security Project. 4. Pulp Fiction and Dirty Dancing. 5. The Narrow Corridor -- Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. 6. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State — Episode 19 of Brave New World. 7. Pippa Ehrlich on the Mysteries of the Sea -- Episode 77 of Brave New World. 8. Recoding America: Why Government Is Failing in the Digital Age and How We Can Do Better -- Jennifer Pahlka. 9. File your taxes for free -- Internal Revenue Service. 10. Code for America. 11. The FAFSA Fiasco. 12. Caitlin Zaloom on the Explosion of Student Debt — Episode 37 of Brave New World. 13. Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost — Caitlin Zaloom. 14. The Submerged State -- Suzanne Mettler. 15. Why We Sleep -- Matthew Walker. 16. Andrew Yang on the New Politics America Needs — Episode 27 of Brave New World. 17. Albert Wenger on the World After Capital — Episode 29 of Brave New World. 18. Paul Sheard Demystifies Money -- Episode 73 of Brave New World. 19. Capital in the Twenty-First Century -- Thomas Piketty. 20. The Political Economy of Education, Financial Literacy, and the Racial Wealth Gap -- Darrick Hamilton and William Darity Jr. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 85: Seth Shostak on Extraterrestrial Life Jul 11, 2024

Does life exist outside our planet? Are we alone in the universe? Seth Shostak joins Vasant Dhar in episode 85 of Brave New World to describe his search for the answers. Useful resources: 1. Seth Shostak at The Seti Institute, Wikipedia, TED, Amazon and his own website. 2. Life in the Universe -- Jeffrey Bennett, Seth Shostak, Nicholas Schneider and Meredith MacGregor. 3. Sharing the Universe: Perspectives on Extraterrestrial Life -- Seth Shostak. 4. Confessions of an Alien Hunter -- Seth Shostak. 5. The Copernican Revolution -- Thomas Kuhn. 6. Peter Ward on Life on Earth -- Episode 76 of Brave New World. 7. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe -- Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee. 8. The Drake Equation. 9. The Gaia Hypothesis. 10. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth -- James Lovelock. 11. Kevin Mitchell Makes a Case for Free Will -- Episode 80 of Brave New World. 12. The Kessler Syndrome. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 84: Vlad Barbalat on Immigration, Insurance and America Jun 06, 2024

He came to America as a ten-year old, and became invested in both the country and its world of finance. Vlad Barbalat joins Vasant Dhar in episode 84 of Brave New World to discuss his life and learnings. Useful resources: 1. Vlad Barbalat on LinkedIn and Liberty Mutual Investments. 2. The Story Of My Experiments With Truth -- MK Gandhi. 3. The Coddling of the American Mind -- Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. 4. The Future of Liberal Education -- Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 83: Shashi Verma on Transport in the 21st Century May 02, 2024

He has been a driver of change at Transport for London, which has shown the way to the rest of the world. Shashi Verma joins Vasant Dhar in Episode 83 of Brave New World to share his learnings on urban transport -- and the governance structures that lead to the best results. Useful resources: 1. Shashi Verma on LinkedIn and Centre for London. 2. Albert Wenger on the World After Capital — Episode 29 of Brave New World. 3. Estimating the Social Benefit of Constructing an Underground Railway in London -- CD Foster and ME Beesley. 4. A History of London Transport -- TV Barker and Michael Robbins. 5. The Subterranean Railway -- Christian Wolmar. 6. Evaluating Urban Transport Improvements -- Anthony J Venables. 7. Agglomeration, Productivity and Transport Investment -- Daniel J Graham. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 82: Josh Tucker on the Complex Truth About Social Media Apr 18, 2024

How much blame should we put on social media for polarizing our society? Perhaps not as much as we tend to do. Joshua A Tucker joins Vasant Dhar in episode 82 of Brave New World to discuss his studies on the effects of social media -- and the algorithms that run them. Useful resources: 1. Joshua Tucker at NYU, Twitter and Google Scholar. 2. Online searches to evaluate misinformation can increase its perceived veracity -- Kevin Aslett, Zeve Sanderson, William Godel, Nathaniel Persily, Jonathan Nagler & Joshua A Tucker. 3. Less than you think: Prevalence and predictors of fake news dissemination on Facebook -- Andrew Guess, Jonathan Nagler and Joshua A Tucker. 4. Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing -- Chris Bail. 5. Chris Bail on How to Fight Polarization -- Episode 34 of Brave New World. 6. The Social Media Industrial Complex -- Episode 3 of Brave New World (w Sinan Aral). 7. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). 8. Quantifying the Impact of Misinformation and Vaccine-Skeptical Content on Facebook -- Jennifer Nancy Lee Allen, Duncan J Watts, and David Rand. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 81: Alex Wiltschko on the Sense of Smell Apr 04, 2024

Smell is the most underrated of our senses -- and it affects everything. Alex Wiltschko joins Vasant Dhar in episode 81 of Brave New World to discuss the role of smell in our lives -- and in this new digital age. Useful resources: 1. Alex Wiltschko on LinkedIn, Google Ventures, Google Scholar and Twitter. 2. Osmo. 3. Perfumes: The A-Z Guide -- Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez. 4. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer -- Patrick Suskind. 5. The Mystery of Smell -- Lydialyle Gibson on Sandeep Robert Datta. 6. A novel multigene family may encode odorant receptors: a molecular basis for odor recognition -- Linda Buck and Richard Axel. 7. Metabolic activity organizes olfactory representations -- Wesley W Qian et al (including Alex Wiltschko.) 8. Hyperbolic geometry of the olfactory space -- Yuansheng Zhou, Brian H Smith & Tatyana Sharpee. 9. Odor Perception and the Variability in Natural Odor Scenes -- Geraldine A Wright and Mitchell G.A. Thomson. 10. The Biological Sense of Smell -- Christine WJ Chee-Ruiter. 11. Also check out the work of Jim DiCarlo, David Marr and Eero Simoncelli. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 80: Kevin Mitchell Makes a Case for Free Will Mar 21, 2024

Given what we know of physics and neuroscience, can there be free will? Kevin Mitchell, a neuroscientist himself, joins Vasant Dhar in episode 80 of Brave New World to unpack his argument for the existence of free will. Useful resources 1. Kevin Mitchell on Amazon, Twitter, Trinity College, Google Scholar, his blog and his homepage. 2. Free Agents: How Evolution Gave Us Free Will -- Kevin Mitchell. 3. Innate: How the Wiring of Our Brains Shapes Who We Are -- Kevin Mitchell. 4. Freedom Evolves -- Daniel Dennett. 5. Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will -- Robert Sapolsky. 6. Free Will -- Sam Harris. 7. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 8. Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment -- Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. 9. Synthetic Biology -- J Craig Ventor Institute. 10. David Krakauer. 11. David Krakauer on Complexity, Agency, and Information -- Episode 242 of Sean Carroll's Mindscape. 12. Anthony Zador on How our Brains Work — Episode 35 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 79: Arthur Spirling on How AI Can Change Politics Mar 07, 2024

Artificial intelligence is transforming society. And therefore politics. Arthur Spirling joins Vasant Dhar in episode 79 of Brave New World to share his insights from his twin fields of data science and political science. Useful resources: 1. Arthur Spirling at Princeton, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and his own website. 2. Why open-source generative AI models are an ethical way forward for science -- Arthur Spirling. 3. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 4. The Narrow Corridor — Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 5. Why Nations Fail — Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 6. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 78: David Halpern on Nudging Feb 22, 2024

How can we use the insights of behavioral economics to make the world a better place? David Halpern joins Vasant Dhar in episode 78 of Brave New World to share his learnings from running the Behavioral Insight Team for the British government. Useful resources: 1. David Halpern on Wikipedia and the Behavioural Insights Team. 2. The work of the Behavioral Insights Team. 3. Inside the Nudge Unit -- David Halpern. 4. Social Capital -- David Halpern. 5, The Hidden Wealth of Nations -- David Halpern. 6. The behavioural science of online harm and manipulation, and what to do about it -- Elisabeth Costa and David Halpern. 7. Subsidies vs Nudges: Which Policies Increase Saving the Most? -- Raj Chetty et al Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 77: Pippa Ehrlich on the Mysteries of the Sea Feb 08, 2024

Her film My Octopus Teacher won an academy award -- and her insights on nature, and her love for it, go far beyond the film. Pippa Ehrlich joins Vasant Dhar in episode 77 of Brave New World to talk about her work and what she has learnt from it. Useful resources: 1. Pippa Ehrich on Instagram, X, LinkedIn and IMDb.. 2. My Octopus Teacher -- Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 3. Peter Singer on Animal Liberation -- Episode 74 of Brave New World. 4. Save Our Seas Foundation. 5. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea -- Jules Verne. 6. Using Deliberate Cold Exposure for Health and Performance -- The Huberman Lab Podcast. 7. Wim Hof Method. 8. The Effects of Cold Exposure Training and a Breathing Exercise on the Inflammatory Response in Humans: A Pilot Study -- Jelie Zwaag et al. 9. Dmitry Rinberg on the Mysteries of Smell -- Episode 62 of Brave New World. 10. Anthony Zador on How our Brains Work -- Episode 35 of Brave New World. 11. Deep Rising -- Matthieu Rytz. 12. David Chalmers on the Nature of Reality -- Episode 41 of Brave New World. 13. Sea Change Project. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 76: Peter Ward on Life on Earth Jan 25, 2024

Life on earth is a crazy accident. We have no idea how it arose or whether it will survive. Peter Ward joins Vasant Dhar in episode 76 of Brave New World to chat about the origins of our planet, the many extinctions and resurgences of life, and the future of our species.

Useful resources: 1. Peter Ward on Wikipedia, University of Washington and Amazon. 2. Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe -- Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee. 3. A New History of Life -- Peter Ward and Joe Kirschvink. 4. The Medea Hypothesis -- Peter Ward. 5. The Flooded Earth -- Peter Ward. 6. Roy Chapman Andrews on Amazon. 7. Jason and the Golden Fleece -- Apollonius of Rhodes. 8. Hercules, My Shipmate -- Robert Graves. 9. The Gaia Hypothesis. 10. SETI Institute. 11. Rare Earth Hypothesis. 12. The Drake Equation. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 75: Mohit Satyanand on Investing and India Jan 11, 2024

He's been a successful entrepreneur and investor, and is highly regarded for his sharp understanding of India. Mohit Satyanand joins Vasant Dhar in episode 75 of Brave New World to share his inspiring story -- and to offer a word of caution. Useful resources 1. Mohit Satyanand on Twitter, Instagram and IMDb. 2. Gimme Mo — Mohit Satyanand's newsletter. 3. Salaam Baalak Trust. 4. Aswath Damodaran on Investing -- Episode 33 of Brave New World. 5. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 6. The Narrow Corridor: How Nations Struggle for Liberty — Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 7. Law and Education in Our Modern World — Episode 5 of Brave New World (w John Sexton). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 74: Peter Singer on Animal Liberation Dec 14, 2023

Why should only human beings be worthy of moral consideration? Would we still eat animals if we had a sense of their mass-produced suffering? Peter Singer joins Vasant Dhar in episode 74 of Brave New World to discuss his influential work as a philosopher. Useful resources: 1. Peter Singer at Britannica, Wikipedia, Princeton, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon and his own website. 2. Animal Liberation Now -- Peter Singer. 3. Animal Machines -- Ruth Harrison. 4. My Octopus Teacher -- Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 5. Seven Up! -- Paul Almond. 6. Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral development. 7. A Theory of Justice -- John Rawls. 8. Everything is Illuminated -- Liev Schreiber. 9. Nudge -- Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein. 10. The Life You Can Save. 11. Maneka Gandhi on Animal Rights -- Episode 44 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 73: Paul Sheard Demystifies Money Nov 30, 2023

What is money? How is it created? What is the relationship of governments, central banks, and commercial banks to money? Paul Sheard joins Vasant Dhar in episode 73 of Brave New World to cut through the fog. Useful resources:1. Understanding QE in the New World -- Episode 10 of Brave New World (w Paul Sheard). 2. The Power of Money -- Paul Sheard. 3. David Yermack on The Crypto Revolution -- Episode 30 of Brave New World. 4. Monetary Economics -- Wynne Godley and Marc Lavoie. 5. The Deficit Myth -- Stephanie Kelton. 6. Inflation: Causes and Consequences -- Milton Friedman. 7. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State — Episode 19 of Brave New World. 8. Sapiens -- Yuval Noah Harari. 9. Leviathan -- Thomas Hobbes. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 72: Ajay Shah on the Dangers of Digital Public Infrastructure Nov 16, 2023

Digital Public Infrastructure sounds like a huge step forward for the world -- till you think about how it empowers the state to oppress the people. Ajay Shah joins Vasant Dhar in episode 72 of Brave New World to warn that we are not being wary enough of state coercion when we think of this incredible technology. Useful resources: 1. Ajay Shah on Twitter and Substack. 2. In Service of the Republic: The Art and Science of Economic Policy -- Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah. 3. Everything is Everything -- Ajay Shah's YouTube show, co-hosted by Amit Varma. 4. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen with Ajay Shah: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. 5. Imagining India -- Nandan Nilekani. 6. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet -- Episode 15 of Brave New World. 7. Albert Wenger on the World After Capital -- Episode 29 of Brave New World. 8. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State — Episode 19 of Brave New World. 9. The Narrow Corridor — Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. 10. Is the Singularity Near? -- Episode 2 of Everything is Everything. 11. 1984 -- George Orwell. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 71: David Sontag on AI in Healthcare Nov 02, 2023

David Sontag joins Vasant Dhar on episode 70 of Brave New World to highlight where and how AI is creating a major transformation in healthcare. We could create a brave new world of individualized and holistic healthcare, where the machine really cares about us and tells us what to do based on knowledge and data. Useful resources 1. David Sontag on Twitter, LinkedIn, MIT and Google Scholar. 2. Heuristic Methods for Imposing Structure on Ill-Structured Problems -- Harry E Pople Jr. 3. Harry E Pople on ResearchGate. 4. Human and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare — Episode 4 of Brave New World (w Eric Topol). 5. Waiting for Doctor AI -- Episode 9 of Brave New World (w Regina Barzilay). 6. UpToDate. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 70: Rajesh Jain, Disrupter Oct 19, 2023

He was an early dotcom millionaire -- and he repeated his success. He wants to reinvent email, and has radical insights on politics. Rajesh Jain joins Vasant Dhar in episode 70 of Brave New World to share his insights on what he has learnt from success -- and failure. Useful resources 1. Rajesh Jain on LinkedIn, Twitter and his own website. 2. Startup to Proficorn -- Rajesh Jain. 3. Rajesh Jain and Dhan Vapasi — Episode 94 of The Seen and the Unseen. 4. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 5. Andrew Yang on the New Politics America Needs -- Episode 27 of Brave New World. 6. Competing for the Future -- Gary Hamel and CK Prahalad. 7. Fall in Love with the Problem, Not the Solution -- Uri Levine. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 69: Chandrika Tandon on Music and Impact Oct 05, 2023

She's a business leader, a Grammy-nominated musician and is trying to transform education. Chadrika Tandon joins Vasant Dhar in episode 69 of Brave New World to discuss her life, her learning, and why she is still so driven. Useful resources 1. Chandrika Tandon on Spotify, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Tandon School of Engineering and her own website. 2. Ammu's Treasures on YouTube, Flipbook and other streaming platforms. 3. Rick Smolan on a Life in Photography -- Episode 65 of Brave New World. 4. Lust for Life -- Norman Corwin. 5. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. 6. Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard -- Thomas Gray. 7. A Psalm of Life -- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. 8. The Shadow Lines -- Amitav Ghosh. 9. Sri Venkateswara Suprabhatham -- MS Subbulakshmi. 10. Binaca Geetmala, 1953-2000. 11. The Beatles and Carpenters on Spotify. 12. Quiet Fire -- Roberta Flack. 13. The Pyramid Principle -- Barbara Minto. 14. The Paradigm Shifts in Artificial Intelligence -- Vasant Dhar. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 68: Gary Smith is an AI Skeptic Sep 21, 2023

Will big data and scary AI take over the world? Not a chance, says Gary Smith, as he joins Vasant Dhar in episode 68 of Brave New World. The human brain is special. Useful resources: 1. Gary Smith on Twitter, Amazon, Pomona College, Google Scholar and his own website. 2. The AI Delusion -- Gary Smith. 3. Distrust: Big Data, Data-Torturing, and the Assault on Science -- Gary Smith. 4. Standard Deviations: Flawed Assumptions, Tortured Data, and Other Ways to Lie with Statistics -- Gary Smith. 5. Security Analysis -- Benjamin Graham and David Dodd. 6. Sam Bowman on ChatGPT & Controlling AI — Episode 58 of Brave New World. 7. Raphaël Millière Looks Under the Hood of AI -- Episode 60 of Brave New World. 8. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet — Episode 15 of Brave New World. 9. Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment -- Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass R. Sunstein. 10. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement — Episode 21 of Brave New World. 11. The Nature of Intelligence — Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann le Cunn). 12. Ellie Pavlick on the Cutting Edge of AI -- Episode 67 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 67: Ellie Pavlick on the Cutting Edge of AI Sep 07, 2023

Does ChatGPT really understand anything? Or is it faking it? Hell, do we understand how it works? Ellie Pavlick joins Vasant Dhar in episode 67 of Brave New World to share her thoughts on where AI has reached -- and where it's going. Useful resources: 1. Ellie Pavlick at Brown and Google Scholar. 2. Symbols and grounding in large language models -- Ellie Pavlick. 3. Sam Bowman on ChatGPT & Controlling AI -- Episode 58 of Brave New World. 4. The Nature of Intelligence — Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann le Cunn). 5. Music, Mind, and Meaning -- Marvin Minsky. 6. Emergent Abilities of Large Language Models -- Jason Wei et al. 7. Hugging Face. 8. EleutherAI. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 66: Jameel Jaffer on Free Speech in the Social Media Age Jul 13, 2023

Law and social conventions around free speech have evolved with the times, but technology presents new challenges to both. In this new world of social media, how should we think about it? Jameel Jaffer joins Vasant Dhar in episode 66 of Brave New World to share his thoughts on how we can navigate this territory. Useful resources: 1. Jameel Jaffer on Wikipedia, Twitter, ACLU, Columbia Law School and Knight First Amendment Institute. 2. Social Media Companies Want to Co-opt the First Amendment. Courts Shouldn't Let Them -- Jameel Jaffer and Scott Wilkens. 3. There's a Problem With Banning TikTok. It's Called the First Amendment. -- Jameel Jaffer. 4. Optimizing for What? Algorithmic Amplification and Society -- A symposium by the Knight Institute. 5. How Rights Went Wrong -- Jamal Greene. 6. Free Speech Futures -- An essay series edited by Jamal Greene. 7. Marketplace of Ideas. 8. Brandenburg v. Ohio. 9. Pentagon Papers. 10. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. 11. The Federalist Papers. 12. Whitney v. California. 13. The Technology Wars -- Episode 1 of Brave New World (w Arun Sundararajan). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 65: Rick Smolan on a Life in Photography Jun 29, 2023

In a rich career as a photographer, he's brought his own distinct gaze to every place he's been to. Rick Smolan joins Vasant Dhar in episode 65 of Brave New World to talk about his rich experiences -- and what he's learned from them. Useful resources: 1. Rick Smolan on Wikipedia, Instagram, Amazon, Ted Talks and Against All Odds. 2. The Good Fight: America's Ongoing Struggle for Justice -- Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt. 3. The Human Face of Big Data -- Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt. 4. Alone Across the Outback -- Rick Smolan's talk for National Geographic. 5. Natasha Pruss & Rick Smolan -- Their Profound Story.

6. Tracks -- John Curran. 7. The Coddling of the American Mind — Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. 8. How Social Media Threatens Society — Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). 9. A Day in the Life of Australia -- Rick Smolan. 10. The Player -- Robert Altman. 11. The Birth of a Word -- Deb Roy. 12. George & Jerry Invent A Show About Nothing -- Seinfeld. 13. Generative AI at Work -- Erik Brynjolfsson, Danielle Li and Lindsey Raymond. 14. Erik Brynjolfsson on the Second Machine Age — Episode 18 of Brave New World. 15. Andrew Yang on the New Politics America Needs -- Episode 27 of Brave New World. 16. Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy — Andrew Yang. 17. Bias, Lies, and Democracy — Episode 14 of Brave New World (w Ali Velshi). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 64: Amit Varma on the Creator Economy Jun 16, 2023

There has never been a better time to be a creator. Amit Varma joins Vasant Dhar in episode 64 of Brave New World to discuss his learnings as a podcaster and blogger -- and to explain why AI is not a threat. Useful resources: 1. Amit Varma on Twitter, India Uncut and Substack. 2. The Seen and the Unseen -- Amit Varma's podcast. 3. Brave New World — Episode 203 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Vasant Dhar). 4. Episodes of The Seen and the Unseen on the creator ecosystem with Roshan Abbas, Varun Duggirala, Neelesh Misra, Snehal Pradhan, Chuck Gopal, Nishant Jain, Deepak Shenoy, Abhijit Bhaduri and Gaurav Chintamani. 5. A Meditation on Form -- Amit Varma. 6. Why Are My Episodes so Long? -- Amit Varma. 7. If You Are a Creator, This Is Your Time -- Amit Varma. 8. The Naked Sun -- Isaac Asimov. 9. Range Rover — The archives of Amit Varma's column on poker for the Economic Times. 10. Fog of War and Atomic Chess. 11. Fixing Indian Education — Episode 185 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Karthik Muralidharan). 12. A Scientist in the Kitchen — Episode 204 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Krish Ashok). 13. Law and Education in Our Modern World — Episode 5 of Brave New World (w John Sexton). 14. My Friend Dropped His Pants -- Amit Varma. 15. Eric Weinstein Won't Toe the Line -- Episode 330 of The Seen and the Unseen. 16. $800,000 to Zero – The FASCINATING History of DaVinci Resolve — Alex Jordan of Learn Color Grading. 17. Miss Excel on Instagram and TikTok. 18. How an Excel Tiktoker Manifested Her Way to Making Six Figures a Day — Nilay Patel. 19. This Australian Man Can Speak Fluent Hindi And Bhojpuri -- ABP News. 20. Advertising is Dead -- Varun Duggirala's podcast. 21. How I Gained 1 MILLION Subscribers — Ali Abdaal. 22. My Top 10 Tips for Aspiring YouTubers — Ali Abdaal. 23. Uplift the Unremarkables — Episode 2 of Brave New World (w Scott Galloway). 24. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen. 25. The Blue Book: A Writer's Journal — Amitava Kumar. 26. 1000 True Fans — Kevin Kelly. 27. 1000 True Fans? Try 100 — Li Jin. 28. Bill Bishop's newsletter on China. 29. The Life and Times of Jerry Pinto — Episode 314 of The Seen and the Unseen. 30. Murder in Mahim — Jerry Pinto. 31. Mallikarjun Mansur and Bhimsen Joshi on Spotify. 32. The New World Upon Us — Amit Varma on Alpha Zero. 33. Google's AlphaZero Destroys Stockfish In 100-Game Match — Mike Klein. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 63: Piyush Gupta on How AI Will Transform Business Jun 01, 2023

He has skin in the game as a top banker -- and saw the power of AI long before others did. Piyush Gupta joins Vasant Dhar in episode 63 of Brave New World to share his excitement for the present -- and his vision for the future. Useful resources: 1. Piyush Gupta at DBS Bank, LinkedIn, Wikipedia and Twitter. 2. Tom Davenport on Artificial Intelligence in Business -- Episode 56 of Brave New World. 3. David Yermack on The Crypto Revolution -- Episode 30 of Brave New World. 4. SVB was a hedge fund in disguise–and the banking crisis is an overreaction -- Vasant Dhar. 5. The Three Laws of Robotics -- Isaac Asimov. 6. The Passions and the Interests -- Albert O Hirschman.

7. All-in On AI -- Thomas H Davenport and Nitin Mittal. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 62: Dmitry Rinberg on the Mysteries of Smell May 18, 2023

We live in a world of smell -- and we barely understand it! Dmitry Rinberg joins Vasant Dhar in episode 62 of Brave New World to discuss what he has learnt about the neurobiology of smell over the last two decades. Useful resources: 1. Dmitry Rinberg at NYU, Google Scholar, LinkedIn, Twitter and Rinberg Lab.. 2. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer -- Patrick Suskind. 3. A Novel Multigene Family May Encode Odorant Receptors: A Molecular Basis for Odor Recognition -- Linda Buck and Richard Axel. 4. Linda Buck and Richard Axel win the Nobel Prize. 5. Learning to Smell: Using Deep Learning to Predict the Olfactory Properties of Molecules -- Alexander B Wiltschko. 6. Digitizing Smell: Using Molecular Maps to Understand Odor -- Richard C Gerkin and Alexander B Wiltschko. 7. This Cat Sensed Death. What if Computers Could, Too? -- Siddhartha Mukherjee. 8. SMILES to Smell: Decoding the Structure–Odor Relationship of Chemical Compounds Using the Deep Neural Network Approach -- Anju Sharma, Rajnish Kumar, Shabnam Ranjta, and Pritish Kumar Varadwaj. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 61: Marty Fridson on How Tech Changed Wall Street May 04, 2023

One of the great disruptions that shaped the modern world was the way in which technology transformed Wall Street. Marty Fridson joins Vasant Dhar in episode 61 of Brave New World to talk about those good old days -- and these mad new times! Useful resources: 1. Martin Fridson at Lehman Livian Fridson Advisors, Amazon, Twitter and his own website. 2. When the Tech Revolution Came to Wall Street -- Marty Fridson. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 60: Raphaël Millière Looks Under the Hood of AI Apr 20, 2023

ChatGPT is great -- but does it 'understand' what it is telling us? Raphaël Millière joins Vasant Dhar in episode 60 of Brave New World to understand on what's going on inside ChatGPT -- and the larger questions that arise from this. Useful resources: 1. Raphaël Millière on Google Scholar, Twitter, LinkedIn, Columbia University and his own website. 2. How to Talk to (And About) Artificial Intelligence -- Raphaël Millière. 3. Moving Beyond Mimicry in Artificial Intelligence -- Raphaël Millière. 4. AI Art Is Challenging the Boundaries of Curation -- Raphaël Millière. 5. The Vector Grounding Problem -- Dimitri Coelho Mollo and Raphaël Millière. 6. Sam Bowman on ChatGPT & Controlling AI -- Episode 58 of Brave New World. 7. Paulo Kaiser on Assimilating ChatGPT -- Episode 59 of Brave New World. 8. The Nature of Intelligence -- Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann LeCun). 9. The False Promise of ChatGPT -- Noam Chomsky, Ian Roberts and Jeffrey Watumull. 10. The Bitter Lesson -- Rich Sutton. 11. On Bullshit -- Harry Frankfurt. 12. Bing's A.I. Chat: 'I Want to Be Alive -- Kevin Roose. 13. Language Models as Agent Models -- Jacob Andreas. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 59: Paulo Kaiser on Assimilating ChatGPT Apr 06, 2023

Will it take all our jobs? In what way will it make us better? What do we need to do? Paulo Kaiser joins Vasant Dhar in episode 59 of Brave New World to discuss the technology that is changing the world in ways we can't imagine. Bonus material: Wisdom for young professionals just starting out. Useful resources: 1. Paulo Kaiser on LinkedIn. 2. Plative. 3. Sam Bowman on ChatGPT & Controlling AI -- Episode 58 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 58: Sam Bowman on ChatGPT & Controlling AI Mar 23, 2023

Artificial intelligence is awesome -- but should we fear it? How can we stay in charge? Sam Bowman joins Vasant Dhar in episode 58 of Brave New World to discuss the Control Problem -- and more.

Also check out: 1. Sam Bowman at NYU Courant, LinkedIn,Twitter and Google Scholar. 2. Measuring Progress on Scalable Oversight for Large Language Models -- Samuel R Bowman et al. 3. Herbert Simon, Harry Pople and Norbert Wiener. 4. Language Models as Agent Models -- Jacob Andreas. 5. The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values — Brian Christian. 6. Human Compatible — Stuart Russell. 7. Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman. 8. ImageNet Classification with Deep Convolutional Neural Networks --Alex Krizhevsky et al. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 57: Rich Bonneau on the Exciting Frontiers of Computational Biology Mar 09, 2023

When computer science and biology come together, can you reprogram nature? Richard Bonneau joins Vasant Dhar in episode 57 of Brave New World to share his insights on this incredible new field -- and how machine learning can play an important role. Useful resources: 1. Richard Bonneau at Genentech, Wikipedia,Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Scholar. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 56: Tom Davenport on Artificial Intelligence in Business Feb 23, 2023

It is about time companies went all in on artificial intelligence. Tom Davenport joins Vasant Dhar in episode 56 of Brave New World to discuss how his work with AI in the corporate world makes him such an optimist. Useful resources: 1. Tom Davenport on Amazon, Twitter, Google Scholar, LinkedIn, Babson College and his own website. 2. All-in On AI -- Thomas H Davenport and Nitin Mittal.. 3. Competing on Analytics -- Thomas H Davenport and Jeanne G Harris. 4. Working with AI -- Thomas H Davenport and Steven M Miller. 5. The AI Advantage -- Thomas H Davenport. 6. Google fires software engineer who claims AI chatbot is sentient -- The Guardian. 7. Can AI have a soul? -- Fireside Chat with Blake Lemoine. 8. Portrait of an AI Leader: Piyush Gupta of DBS Bank -- Tom Davenport and Randy Bean. 9. The Future Of Work Now: Morgan Stanley's Financial Advisors And The Next Best Action System -- Thomas H Davenport. 10. Stop Tinkering with AI -- Thomas H Davenport and Nitin Mittal. 11. The AI-First Company -- Ash Fontana. 12. Competing in the Age of AI -- Marco Iansiti and Karim R Lakhani. 13. Data Scientist: The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century -- Thomas H Davenport and DJ Patil. 14. Foundation Medicine. 15. How Computer Automation Affects Occupations: Technology, Jobs, and Skills -- James E Bessen. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 55: Paul Barrett on Regulating Social Media Feb 09, 2023

Social media has brought new challenges to our times, such as what they should or shouldn't publish or amplify. Do we need new laws to deal with these challenges, or are current laws sufficient? Paul M Barrett joins Vasant Dhar in episode 55 of Brave New World to share his insights. Useful resources 1. Paul M Barrett on Twitter, Amazon and NYU Stern. 2. Glock: The Rise of America's Gun -- Paul M Barrett. 3. A Platform 'Weaponized': How YouTube Spreads Harmful Content—And What Can Be Done About It -- Paul M Barrett and Justin Hendrix. 4. It's Past Time to Take Social Media Content Moderation In-House -- Paul M Barrett. 5. Spreading The Big Lie: How Social Media Sites Have Amplified False Claims of U.S. Election Fraud -- Paul M Barrett. 6. The 'Twitter Files' Show It's Time to Reimagine Free Speech Online -- David French. 7. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 8. Dissecting "Noise" -- Vasant Dhar. 9. Philip Tetlock on the Art of Forecasting — Episode 31 of Brave New World. 10. The Battle for Attention -- Vasant Dhar. 11. Section 230: It's Time to Equate Amplification to Publishing -- Vasant Dhar. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 54: Dana Carroll on the Science and Ethics of Gene Editing Jan 26, 2023

We have become the first species that can edit its own programming. Dana Carroll joins Vasant Dhar in episode 54 of Brave New World to share his insights on the science of gene editing -- and the ethical questions it raises. Useful resources: 1. Dana Carroll at University of Utah and Google Scholar. 2. The Promise and Challenge of Therapeutic Genome Editing -- Jennifer Doudna. 3. Jennifer's Doudna conversation on CRISPR with Chris Anderson. 4. Jennifer Doudna at Google Scholar and Amazon. 5. CRISPR babies: when will the world be ready? -- Heidi Ledford. 6. Beyond CRISPR: What's current and upcoming in genome editing -- Chris Tachibana. 7. Human Genome Editing: Science, Ethics, and Governance -- Various authors. 8. Heritable Human Genome Editing -- Various authors. 9. Human genome editing: a framework for governance -- WHO. 10. Human genome editing: position paper -- WHO. 11. Human genome editing: recommendations -- WHO. 12. Animal Liberation — Peter Singer. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 53: Paul Shapiro on Growing Meat Without Animals Jan 12, 2023

In principle, you can take a single cell from an animal and feed an entire village. It's a matter of time. In the meantime, there are alternatives, like fermentation, to produce all kinds of new substitutes that could be better than meat in terms of nutrition and taste. Paul Shapiro joins Vasant Dhar in episode 53 of Brave New World to discuss how meat alternatives are the future -- and liberating for animals and the environment.

Useful resources: 1. Paul Shapiro on LinkedIn, Twitter, Wikipedia and his own website. 2. Clean Meat: How Growing Meat Without Animals Will Revolutionize Dinner and the World -- Paul Shapiro. 3. The Clean Meat website. 4. The Better Meat Co. 5. Is Old Music Killing New Music? — Ted Gioia. 6. Maneka Gandhi on Animal Rights -- Episode 44 of Brave New World. 7. Animal Liberation — Peter Singer. 8. Animal Farming and Protein — Vasant Dhar. 9. My Octopus Teacher -- Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 10. The Innovator's Dilemma — Clayton M Christensen. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 52: Neeti Bhalla Johnson on Risk in Our Modern World Dec 29, 2022

Has the world become more or less safe over the years? How do we measure risk in these times of crazy change? Neeti Bhalla Johnson joins Vasant Dhar in episode 52 of Brave New World to share her thoughts on how professionals do it! Useful resources: 1. Neeti Bhalla Johnson on LinkedIn and Liberty Mutual. 2. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 3. Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement — Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. 4. Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman. 5. Dissecting "Noise" — Vasant Dhar. 6. Factfulness -- Hans Rosling. 7. Global Deaths in Conflicts Since the Year 1400 -- Chart by Max Roser. 8. War and Peace -- Max Roser, Joe Hasell, Bastian Herre and Bobbie Macdonald. 8. Destined for War.-- Graham Allison. 9. The Technology Wars — Episode 1 of Brave New World (w Arun Sundararajan). 10. The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy -- Michael Lewis. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 51: Emeran Mayer on the Brain in Our Gut Dec 15, 2022

The brain and the gut are connected -- and our well-being depends on it. Emeran Mayer joins Vasant Dhar to speak about the importance of the gut in our physical lives -- and our emotional ones! Useful resources: 1. Emeran Mayer on Google Scholar, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and his own website. 2. The Mind-Gut Connection -- Emeran Mayer. 3. The Gut-Immune Connection -- Emeran Mayer. 4. Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions -- Jaak Panksepp. 5. Human and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare -- Episode 4 of Brave New World (w Eric Topol). 6. Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman. 7. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 50: Pramod Varma on India's Digital Empowerment Dec 01, 2022

India has achieved a technological miracle by empowering hundreds of millions of people with the power of identity. Pramod Varma joins Vasant Dhar in episode 50 of Brave New World to discuss his pioneering role in setting up large scale digital public infrastructure. Useful resources: 1. Pramod Varma on LinkedIn and Twitter. 2. India Stack, Aadhaar, E-Sign, DigiLocker and United Payments Interface. 3. The Beckn Protocol. 4. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet -- Episode 15 of Brave New World. 5. Data Democracy: People and Power in the Digital Age -- Nandan Nilekani's talk. 6. Why the US needs public-private partnerships for digital infrastructure -- Vasant Dhar. 7. 3 ways to increase social media platforms' transparency -- Vasant Dhar. 8. On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog — New Yorker cartoon. 9. Who controls your data? India may pass a law ensuring that you do -- Vasant Dhar. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 49: Anshu Gupta on Using Waste For Good Nov 17, 2022

We need to change the way we do philanthropy: it should be about sharing, not giving. Anshu Gupta joins Vasant Dhar in episode 49 of Brave New World to discuss his journey in building Goonj -- and why we need to rethink our frames. Useful resources: 1. Anshu Gupta on Goonj, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and his own website. 2. Goonj. 3. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 4. The Narrow Corridor: How Nations Struggle for Liberty — Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 5. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty — Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 6. Joseph Aoun on Becoming Robot-Proof -- Episode 45 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 48: Hanna Halaburda and Yannis Bakos on Bitcoin, Blockchain and DeFi Nov 03, 2022

Is Bitcoin just a bubble, or the first face of the future? What about blockchain and DeFi? Hanna Halaburda and Yannis Bakos join Vasant Dhar in episode 48 of Brave New World to dig deeper into these questions. Useful resources:1. Hanna Halaburda at NYU Stern, Twitter and Google Scholar. 2. Yannis Bakos at NYU Stern and Google Scholar. 3. On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog -- New Yorker cartoon. 4. Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System -- Satoshi Nakamoto. 5. Michael Saylor: Bitcoin, Inflation, and the Future of Money -- Lex Fridman Podcast #276. 6. Artifact of the Month: Ross William Ulbricht's Laptop. 7. How FBI caught Ross Ulbricht, alleged creator of criminal marketplace Silk Road -- Tim Hume. 8. Smart Contracts: Building Blocks for Digital Markets -- Nick Szabo. 9. Obelix and the Sleeping Cups -- Vasant Dhar. 10. Antoinette Schoar on Decentralized Finance & Crypto -- Episode 42 of Brave New World. 11. David Yermack on The Crypto Revolution -- Episode 30 of Brave New World. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 47: Shelley Stewart on Black Economic Mobility Oct 20, 2022

How did Covid-19 affect black Americans? What are the obstacles to their mobility and what can you do about it? Shelley Stewart joins Vasant Dhar in episode 47 of Brave New World to discuss his work at McKinsey trying to make an impact on black America. Useful resources: 1. Shelley Stewart at McKinsey & Company. 2. COVID-19: Investing in Black lives and livelihoods. 3. Soumitra Datta on Measuring Innovation -- Episode 46 of Brave New World. 4. Jeff Teper on the Post-Covid Workplace -- Episode 36 of Brave New World.

Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 46: Soumitra Datta on Measuring Innovation Oct 06, 2022

How can we tell if one country is more innovative than another? What drives that difference? And hey, what is innovation to begin with? Soumitra Datta joins Vasant Dhar in episode 46 of Brave New World to share his insights on innovation, and the lessons they hold for us. Useful resources: 1. Soumitra Datta on Twitter, Wikipedia and Saïd Business School. 2. Does IT Matter? -- Nicholas Carr. 3. Global Innovation Index 2020 -- Edited by Soumitra Datta, Bruno Lanvin and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent. 4. India Innovation Index 2021: NITI Aayog. 5. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet -- Episode 15 of Brave New World. 6. The Swedish Hitmaker Behind Britney Spears, Taylor Swift and the Weeknd -- Neil Shah in the Wall Street Journal. 7. 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer. 8. Why Nations Fail -- Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. 9. The Narrow Corridor -- Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson. 10. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 11. That Fancy University Course? It Might Actually Come From an Education Company -- Lisa Bannon and Rebecca Smith in the Wall Street Journal. 12. The Innovator's Dilemma — Clayton M Christensen. 13. Law and Education in Our Modern World -- Episode 5 of Brave New World (w John Sexton). 14. Too much efficiency not good for higher education, March argues -- Stanford University News Service. 15. Uplift the Unremarkables -- Episode 2 of Brave New World (w Scott Galloway). Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 45: Joseph Aoun on Becoming Robot-Proof Sep 22, 2022

If robots and AI are replacing us, we need to reinvent ourselves. Joseph Aoun joins Vasant Dhar in episode 45 of Brave New World to discuss the role of education in making humanity robot-proof. Useful resources: 1. Joseph Aoun on Twitter, Google Scholar and Northeastern University. 2. Robot-Proof: Higher Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence -- Joseph Aoun. 3. The Innovator's Dilemma -- Clayton Christensen. 4. Caitlin Zaloom on the Explosion of Student Debt -- Episode 37 of Brave New World. 5. Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost -- Caitlin Zaloom. 6. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 7. The Future of Liberal Education -- Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth). 8. How Humans Judge Machines -- César Hidalgo. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 44: Maneka Gandhi on Animal Rights Aug 04, 2022

Perhaps the greatest human sin is how we treat animals. Maneka Gandhi joins Vasant Dhar in episode 44 of Brave New World to share her learnings from decades as an animal activist. Useful resources: 1. Maneka Gandhi on Instagram, Twitter and Wikipedia. 2. Animal Liberation -- Peter Singer. 3. Animal Farming and Protein -- Vasant Dhar. 4. Slaughterhouses and Increased Crime Rates -- Amy J Fitzgerald, Linda Kalof and Thomas Dietz. 5. The Jungle -- Upton Sinclair. 6. The Draize Test. 7. Animals in Cosmetics Testing. 8. Animals Should Be Off The Menu -- Philip Wollen. 9. How Oprah Got Sued for Dissing a Burger -- Brian Duignan. 10. Is Milk the Best Source of Calcium? -- Alisa Fleming.

Ep 43: Bernard Haykel on Islam and the West Jul 21, 2022

How is the relationship between Islam and the West evolving? Is there is a clash of civilizations or a clash within Islam? Bernard Haykel joins Vasant Dhar in episode 43 of Brave New World to share his insights. Useful resources: 1. Bernard Haykel at Princeton, Project Syndicate, Amazon and Google Scholar. 2. The Quran. 3. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley. 4. 'Tell me about your dream mosque' -- Sacha Baron Cohen in Kingman, Arizona. 5. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 6. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order -- Samuel Huntington. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 42: Antoinette Schoar on Decentralized Finance & Crypto Jul 07, 2022

Will cryptocurrencies save the world or create a new can of worms? Antoinette Schoar joins Vasant Dhar in episode 42 of Brave New World to take us on a dispassionate tour through the world of Bitcoin, blockchains and DeFi. Useful resources: 1. Antoinette Schoar At MIT Sloan School of Management and Google Scholar. 2. Cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (DeFi) -- Igor Makarov and Antoinette Schoar 3. David Yermack on The Crypto Revolution -- Episode 30 of Brave New World. 4. Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System -- Satoshi Nakamoto. 5. Are Cryptocurrencies Currencies? Bitcoin as Legal Tender in El Salvador -- Fernando Alvarez, David Argente and Diana Van Patten. 6. Incomplete Contracts and Control -- Oliver Hart's Nobel Prize Lecture.

Ep 41: David Chalmers on the Nature of Reality Jun 23, 2022

What are the philosophical implications of virtual reality? Do we exist "physically" or "virtually" and does it matter? Is virtual reality real? How is reality different from consciousness? David Chalmers joins Vasant Dhar in episode 41 of Brave New World to talk about the big questions at the intersection of philosophy and AI that are are being driven by advances in neuroscience and virtual reality. Useful resources 1. David Chalmers at NYU, Google Scholar, Amazon and his own website. 2. Reality+: Virtual Worlds and the Problems of Philosophy -- David Chalmers. 3. The Conscious Mind -- David Chalmers. 4. Douglas Hofstadter on Amazon. 5. Neurophilosophy: Toward a Unified Science of the Mind-Brain -- Patricia Churchland. 6. Anthony Zador on How our Brains Work -- Episode 35 of Brave New World. 7. White Christmas -- Episode 4 of Season 2 of Black Mirror. 8. It From Bit -- John Archibald Wheeler. 9. John Conway's Game of Life. 10. Nick Bostrom on Amazon. 11. The Simulation Hypothesis. 12. World on a Wire -- Rainer Werner Fassbinder. 13. The Matrix -- The Wachowskis. 14. The Naked Sun -- Isaac Asimov. 15. Descartes' Evil Demon. 16. What Is It Like to Be a Bat? -- Thomas Nagel. 17. Integrated Information Theory -- Giulio Tononi. 18. The Nature of Intelligence -- Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann LeCun). 19. The Turing Test. 20. The Consciousness Prior -- Yoshua Bengio.

Ep 40: Ben Hunt on the Power of Narrative Jun 09, 2022

'We need narrative theory,' says Ben Hunt, to understand the alien beings called Narratives that inhabit our Metaverse. Hunt joins Vasant Dhar in episode 40 of Brave New World to describe how Big Tech is changing the way we think -- and how we need to fight it. Useful resources: 1. Ben Hunt on Twitter, LinkedIn and Epsilon Theory, 2. Epsilon Theory, 3. Narrative and Metaverse, Pt. 1: The Living Word -- Ben Hunt. 4. Narrative and Metaverse, Pt. 2: Gain of Function -- Ben Hunt. 5. Narrative and Metaverse, Pt. 3: The Luther Protocol -- Ben Hunt. 6. Chris Bail on How to Fight Polarization -- Episode 34 of Brave New World. 7. Amusing Ourselves to Death -- Neil Postman. 8. The Selfish Gene -- Richard Dawkins. 9. Lapham's Quarterly. 10. We Refugees -- Hannah Arendt. 11. The Power of Myth -- Joseph Campbell. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 39: Marie Bergstrom on Online Dating and Intimacy May 26, 2022

Hooking up ain't like it used to be. Marie Bergstrom joins Vasant Dhar in episode 39 of Brave New World to discuss her research on how the internet has changed the world of love -- and lust. Useful resources: 1. Marie Bergstrom on Google Scholar. 2. The New Laws of Love -- Marie Bergstrom. 3. Ruth Westheimer on Wikipedia. 4. A modern manifesto against sex positivity -- Michelle Goldberg. 5. Rethinking Sex: A Provocation -- Christine Emba. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Ep 38: Joel Peterson on the Art and Science of Winemaking May 12, 2022

These are exciting times for wine lovers. Joel Peterson, the Godfather of Zinfandel, joins Vasant Dhar in episode 38 of Brave New World to raise a toast to the innovators who continue to transform the world of wine. Useful resources: 1. Once and Future Wine and Ravenswood. 2. Zinfandel on Wikipedia. 3. The parentage of a classic wine grape, Cabernet Sauvignon -- JE Bowers and CP Meredith. 4. Historical Genetics: The Parentage of Chardonnay, Gamay, and Other Wine Grapes of Northeastern France -- J Bowers, JM Boursiquot, P This, H Johansson and C Meredith. 5. Zinfandel, Dobrièiæ, and Plavac mali: The Genetic Relationship among Three Cultivars of the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia -- E Maletiæ, I Pejiæ, J Karoglan Kontiæ, J Piljac, GS Dangl, A Vokurka, T Lacombe, N Miroševiæ and CP Meredith. 6. Whole genome amplification and microsatellite genotyping of herbarium DNA revealed the identity of an ancient grapevine cultivar -- Nenad Malenica, Silvio Simon, Višnja Besendorfer, Edi Maletić, Jasminka Karoglan Kontić and Ivan Pejić. 7. An Ideal Wine -- David Darlington. 8. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 9. Higher wine prices boost drinking pleasure -- Clare Baldwin. 10. Interpretations of colour composition in young red wines -- TC Somers. 11. Wine Colour and Tannin -- The Australian Wine Research Institute. 12. Law and Education in Our Modern World -- Episode 5 of Brave New World (w John Sexton).

Ep 37: Caitlin Zaloom on the Explosion of Student Debt Apr 28, 2022

Education empowers people, but education debt can cripple them and they families financially. Caitlin Zaloom joins Vasant Dhar in episode 37 of Brave New World to describe the depth of the problem, and what can be done about it. Useful resources: 1. Caitlin Zaloom at NYU, Google Scholar and Twitter. 2. Indebted: How Families Make College Work at Any Cost -- Caitlin Zaloom. 3. Law and Education in Our Modern World -- Episode 5 of Brave New World (w John Sexton). 4. The Future of Liberal Education -- Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth). 5. Uplift the Unremarkables -- Episode 2 of Brave New World (w Scott Galloway). 7. The Value of Soft Skills in the Labor Market -- David J Deming. 8. Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? -- David H Autor. 9. The Price You Pay for College -- Ron Lieber.

Ep 36: Jeff Teper on the Post-Covid Workplace Apr 14, 2022

Big tech is in the spotlight these days, but Microsoft keeps a low profile. It has escaped the flak while shaping the post-Covid world. Company veteran Jeff Teper joins Vasant Dhar in episode 36 of Brave New World to explain their vision for the future, and to share his views on Web 3.0. And oh, by the way -- Teams is the nascent Metaverse. Useful resources: 1. Jeff Teper at Stern and Twitter. 2. Aswath Damodaran on Investing -- Episode 33 of Brave New World. 3. The Product Book -- Josh Anon with Carlos González de Villaumbrosia. 4. Jaime Teevan at Microsoft. 5. The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age -- Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh. 6. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success -- Carol S Dweck. 7. Accidental Empires -- Robert X Cringely.

Ep 35: Anthony Zador on How our Brains Work Mar 31, 2022

The brain is a complex machine, but some of us study its circuits and figure out its secrets. Anthony Zador joins Vasant Dhar in episode 35 of Brave New World to reveal what the cutting edge of neuroscience looks like. Useful resources: 1. Anthony Zador at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Google Scholar and Twitter. 2. Christof Koch on Amazon. 3. A critique of pure learning and what artificial neural networks can learn from animal brains -- Anthony Zador. 4. Mind Children: The Future of Robot and Human Intelligence -- Hans Moravec. 5. The Nature of Intelligence -- Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann LeCun). 6. How the Mind Works -- Steven Pinker. 7. Ebbinghaus Illusion.

Ep 34: Chris Bail on How to Fight Polarization Mar 17, 2022

Social media is tearing us apart by feeding into our need for status. Can we mitigate its effects? Chris Bail joins Vasant Dhar in episode 34 of Brave New World to share his research on how social media affects us -- and how we can fight back. Useful resources 1. Chris Bail at Duke, Sanford School of Public Policy, Google Scholar, Amazon, Twitter and his own website. 2. Breaking the Social Media Prism: How to Make Our Platforms Less Polarizing -- Chris Bail. 3. The Social Media Industrial Complex -- Episode 3 of Brave New World (with Sinan Aral). 4. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (with Jonathan Haidt). 5. Helena Rosenblatt on Liberalism's Long Journey -- Episode 32 of Brave New World. 6. We Have Never Been Here Before -- Thomas L Friedman. 7. Adam Alter on Beating Our Addictions -- Episode 28 of Brave New World. 8. The Hype Machine -- Sinan Aral.

Ep 33: Aswath Damodaran on Investing Mar 03, 2022

The value of a company has a lot to do with the stories it tells about itself. Aswath Damodaran joins Vasant Dhar in episode 33 of Brave New World to discuss how narratives and numbers are related. Useful Resources: 1. Aswath Damodaran on YouTube, Blogspot, Twitter, Amazon and NYU Stern. 2. Narrative and Numbers: The Value of Stories in Business -- Aswath Damodaran. 3. The Innovator's Dilemma -- Clayton M Christensen. 4. A Disruptive Cab Ride to Riches: The Uber Payoff -- Aswath Damodaran. 5. How to Miss By a Mile: An Alternative Look at Uber's Potential Market Size -- Bill Gurley. 6. Possible, Plausible and Probable: Big markets and Networking effects -- Aswath Damodaran. 7. Up, up and away! A crowd-valuation of Uber! -- Aswath Damodaran. 8. The Success Equation -- Michael J Mauboussin. 9. Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction — Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner. 10. Philip Tetlock on the Art of Forecasting -- Episode 31 of Brave New World. 11. The Zomato IPO: A Bet on Big Markets and Platforms! -- Aswath Damodaran. 12. Reciprocal Scoring: A Method for Forecasting Unanswerable Questions — Ezra Karger, Joshua Monrad, Barb Mellers and Philip Tetlock. 13. Trafalgar Polls. 14. The Hedgehog and the Fox -- Isaiah Berlin. 15. The Big Market Delusion: Valuation and Investment Implications -- Bradford Cornell and Aswath Damodaran. 16. The Market is Huge! Revisiting the Big Market Delusion -- Aswath Damodaran.

Ep 32: Helena Rosenblatt on Liberalism's Long Journey Feb 17, 2022

What is liberal democracy and has it lost its way? Helena Rosenblatt joins Vasant Dhar in episode 32 of Brave New World to add a historical perspective to this modern problem in our illiberal and polarized world. Useful resources: 1. The Lost History of Liberalism -- Helena Rosenblatt. 2. Thinking with Rousseau: From Machiavelli to Schmitt -- Helena Rosenblatt. 3. Helena Rosenblatt on Amazon. 4. Jean-Jacques Rousseau on Amazon. 5. The Technology Wars -- Episode 1 of Brave New World (w Arun Sundararajan.) 6. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet -- Episode 15 of Brave New World. 7. The Social Media Industrial Complex -- Episode 3 of Brave New World (w Sinan Aral). 8. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). 9. Justice Antonin Scalia on American exceptionalism. 10. The Future of Liberal Education -- Episode 11 of Brave New World (w Michael S Roth).

Ep 31: Philip Tetlock on the Art of Forecasting Feb 03, 2022

Yogi Berra once said, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Philip Tetlock joins Vasant Dhar in episode 31 of Brave New World to discuss what superforecasters do consistently well -- and how we can improve our judgement and decision-making. Useful resources: 1. Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction -- Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner. 2. Expert Political Judgment: How Good Is It? How Can We Know? -- Philip Tetlock. 3. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 4. Everything Is Obvious: *Once You Know the Answer -- Duncan Watts. 5. The Hedgehog and the Fox -- Isiah Berlin. 6. What do forecasting rationales reveal about thinking patterns of top geopolitical forecasters? -- Christopher W Karvetski, Carolyn Meinel, Daniel T Maxwell, Yunzi Lu, Barbara A.Mellers and Philip E.Tetlock. 7. Terry Odean on How to Think about Investing -- Episode 23 of Brave New World. 8. Reciprocal Scoring: A Method for Forecasting Unanswerable Questions -- Ezra Karger, Joshua Monrad, Barb Mellers and Philip Tetlock. 9. The Signal and the Noise -- Nate Silver. 10. FiveThirtyEight.

Ep 30: David Yermack on The Crypto Revolution Jan 20, 2022

Goodbye big banks. Hello crypto. The world of finance is in the process of changing forever, and David Yermack is your guide. Yermack joins Vasant Dhar in episode 30 of Brave New World to share his road map of, well, this brave new world! Useful resources: 1. David Yermack at NYU Stern and Google Scholar. 2. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet -- Episode 15 of Brave New World. 3. Linus's Law (from The Cathedral and the Bazaar). 4. The DAO hack mentioned in the episode.

Ep 29: Albert Wenger on the World After Capital Jan 06, 2022

Capital is no longer a scarce resource. Attention is. Albert Wenger joins Vasant Dhar in episode 29 of Brave New World to discuss how the Industrial Age is past its expiry date, and what we need to do to prepare for the Knowledge Age. Useful resources: 1. Albert Wenger at Union Square Ventures and Continuations. And on Twitter. 2. The World After Capital -- Albert Wenger. 3. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy -- Joseph Schumpeter's book in which he wrote about creative destruction. 4. Homo Deus -- Yuval Noah Harari. 5. Free Lunch Society. 6. Andrew Yang on the New Politics America Needs -- Episode 27 of Brave New World. 7. Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet -- Episode 15 of Brave New World. 8. Notes on Elinor Ostrom on Wikipedia, Britannica, Econlib and the Nobel Prize website. 9. Adam Alter on Beating Our Addictions -- Episode 28 of Brave New World.

Ep 28: Adam Alter on Beating Our Addictions Dec 23, 2021

More and more, the digital world is being designed to turn us into addicts. Adam Alter joins Vasant Dhar in episode 28 of Brave New World to describe the sinister ways in which this happens -- and what we can do about it. Useful resources: 1. Irresistible -- Adam Alter. 2. Drunk Tank Pink -- Adam Alter. 3. Dopamine Nation -- Anna Lembke. 4. Anna Lembke on Beating Dopamine -- Episode 26 of Brave New World. 5. Addiction by Design -- Natasha Dow Schüll. 6. Andrew Yang on the New Politics America Needs -- Episode 27 of Brave New World. 7. Bias, Lies, and Democracy -- Episode 14 of Brave New World (w Ali Velshi). 8. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World.

Ep 27: Andrew Yang on the New Politics America Needs Dec 09, 2021

Andrew Yang supports some game-changing ideas, such as UBI and taxing robots, and they're rooted in a radical vision of what America's politics should be. Yang joins Vasant Dhar in episode 27 of Brave New World to explain why the system is broken -- and how it can be changed. Useful resources: 1. Andrew Yang on his website, Twitter, YouTube and Amazon. 2. Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy -- Andrew Yang. 3. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). 4. Erik Brynjolfsson on the Second Machine Age -- Episode 18 of Brave New World.

Ep 26: Anna Lembke on Beating Dopamine Nov 25, 2021

Are you addicted? You may be a slave to dopamine without realising it, whether in the substances you put into your body or the behaviors you adopt. Anna Lembke, author of Dopamine Nation, joins Vasant Dhar in episode 26 of Brave New World to discuss how we can beat this. Useful resources: 1. Anna Lembke's website. 2. Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence -- Anna Lembke. 3. Drug Dealer, MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It's So Hard to Stop -- Anna Lembke. 4. Digital Addictions Are Drowning Us in Dopamine -- Anna Lembke. 5. Is Social Media Hijacking our Minds? -- Anna Lembke and Nir Eyal. 6. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). 7. True self and false self (Wikipedia). 8. Ego Distortion in Terms of True and False Self (1960) -- Donald Winnicott. 9. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 10. How I Became Extremely Open-Minded -- Ross Douthat.

Ep 25: John McWhorter on the Religion of Wokeism Nov 11, 2021

There is a new religion in town. It has the best intentions, but it may harm those it claims to help. John McWhorter joins Vasant Dhar in episode 25 of Brave New World to talk about his book Woke Racism -- and on the dangers of this new social movement that could tear us apart. Useful resources: 1. Woke Racism -- John McWhorter. 2. The Coddling of the American Mind -- Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. 3. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). 4. The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks -- Randall Robinson. 5. The Case for Reparations -- Ta-Nehisi Coates. 6. What does anti-racism in mathematics look like? -- John McWhorter in conversation with Glenn Loury.

Ep 24: Solon Barocas on Removing Bias From Machines Oct 28, 2021

Machine Learning can improve decision making in a big way -- but it can also reproduce human biases and discrimination. Solon Barocas joins Vasant Dhar in episode 24 of Brave New World to discuss the challenges of solving this problem. Useful resources: 1. Solon Barocas at his website, Cornell, Google Scholar and Twitter. 2. Fairness and Machine Learning -- Solon Barocas, Moritz Hardt and Arvind Narayanan. 3. Danger Ahead: Risk Assessment and the Future of Bail Reform: John Logan Koepke and David G. Robinson. 4. Fairness and Utilization in Allocating Resources with Uncertain Demand -- Kate Donahue and Jon Kleinberg. 5. Profiles, Probabilities, and Stereotypes -- Frederick Schauer. 6. Thinking Like a Lawyer: A New Introduction to Legal Reasoning -- Frederick Schauer. 7. Measuring the predictability of life outcomes with a scientific mass collaboration -- Mathew Salganik and others. 8. Inherent Trade-Offs in the Fair Determination of Risk Scores -- Jon Kleinberg, Sendhil Mullainathan and Manish Raghavan. 9. Limits to Prediction -- Arvind Narayanan and Matthew Salganik. 10. The Fragile Families Challenge. 11. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 12. Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment -- Daniel Kahneman. 13. Dissecting "Noise" — Vasant Dhar. 14. Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness -- Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein.

Ep 23: Terry Odean on How to Think about Investing Oct 14, 2021

How do we pick the stocks we buy? What drives us to sell? How does new technology impact our attention and behavior? Terrance Odean joins Vasant Dhar in episode 23 of Brave New World to share his learnings over a lifetime of studying behavioral finance. Useful resources:

1. Terrance Odean's videos on Investing. 2.Terrance Odean's video series on individual investor behavior. 3. All That Glitters: The Effect of Attention and News on the Buying Behavior of Individual and Institutional Investors -- Brad M Barber & Terrance Odean. 4. Trading Is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors -- Brad M Barber & Terrance Odean. 5. The Behavior of Individual Investors -- Brad M Barber & Terrance Odean. 6. Zero-Commission Individual Investors, High Frequency Traders, and Stock Market Quality -- Gregory W Eaton, T Clifton Green, Brian Roseman & Yanbin Wu. 7. Thinking Fast and Slow -- Daniel Kahneman. 8. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World 9. Dissecting "Noise" — Vasant Dhar. 10. The Disposition to Sell Winners Too Early and Ride Losers Too Long: Theory and Evidence -- Hersh Shefrin & Meir Statman. 11. Day-trading reality check: humans are poor investors and even worse traders -- Vasant Dhar. 12. Seinfeld: George Does the Opposite.

Ep 22: Dina Srinivasan on the Dangers of Big Tech Sep 30, 2021

Google and Facebook have an outrageous amount of market power, and that's dangerous for society. Dina Srinivasan joins Vasant Dhar in episode 22 of Brave New World to discuss the dangers, and how we can tackle them. Useful resources: 1. Dina Srinivasan's homepage and Twitter. 2. The Antitrust Case Against Facebook -- Dina Srinivasan. 3. Why Google Dominates Advertising Markets -- Dina Srinivasan. 4. Aldous Huxley interviewed by Mike Wallace. 5. James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State -- Episode 19 of Brave New World. 6. Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt -- Michael Lewis. 7. Bias, Lies, and Democracy -- Episode 14 of Brave New World (w Ali Velshi). 8. Uplift the Unremarkables -- Episode 2 of Brave New World (w Scott Galloway). 9. Can a Machine Have Human Values? -- Episode 13 of Brave New World (w Brian Christian).

Ep 21: Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement Sep 16, 2021

We overestimate our skill at decision making. We're pretty bad, and bias isn't the only reason. Daniel Kahneman joins Vasant Dhar in episode 21 of Brave New World to shed light on the problem of Noise, and what we can do about it. Useful resources: 1. Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement -- Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. 2. Thinking, Fast and Slow -- Daniel Kahneman. 3. Dissecting "Noise" -- Vasant Dhar. 4. Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction -- Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner. 5. Herbert A Simon on Amazon.

Ep 20: Stuart Russell on The Existential Risk of AI Sep 02, 2021

It is a matter of time before machines outstrip humans in most capabilities. How can we possibly stop a more intelligent entity from taking control? Stuart Russell joins Vasant Dhar in episode 20 of Brave New World to explain why, despite the dangers, he remains optimistic about artificial intelligence and how to control it. Useful resources: 1. Human Compatible -- Stuart Russell. 2. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach -- Stuart Russell and Peter Norvig. 3. Erewhon, or Over The Range -- Samuel Butler. 4. The Theory of Political Economy -- W Stanley Jevons. 5. Decision and Organization -- Edited by CB McGuire and Roy Radner, with a contribution from Kenneth Arrow. 6. Welfare Economics of Variable Tastes -- John C Harsanyi. 7. Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren -- John Maynard Keynes.

Ep 19: James Robinson on What Makes a Successful State Aug 19, 2021

Why do some nations fail in their lurch towards liberty while others succeed? James Robinson joins Vasant Dhar in episode 19 of Brave New World to explain why there is no simple answer to that question -- but the balance between the state and society is central to understanding it. Also discussed: the developing challenge of Big Tech. Useful resources: 1. The Narrow Corridor: How Nations Struggle for Liberty -- Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 2. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty -- Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. 3. Erik Brynjolfsson on the Second Machine Age -- Episode 18 of Brave New World.

Ep 18: Erik Brynjolfsson on the Second Machine Age Aug 05, 2021

The first machine age was about mechanical machines. We now live in a time of thinking machines. Erik Brynjolfsson joins Vasant Dhar in episode 18 of Brave New World to talk about the impact of AI on productivity and inequality -- and to explain why he remains optimistic about the prospects for humans in the AI era. Useful resources: 1. The Second Machine Age -- Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee. 2. Erik Brynjolfsson's website, SSRN page and Google Scholar page. 3. The coming productivity boom -- Erik Brynjolfsson and Georgios Petropoulos 4. Artificial Intelligence and the Modern Productivity Paradox -- Erik Brynjolfsson, Daniel Rock & Chad Syverson. 5. The Productivity J-Curve: How Intangibles Complement General Purpose Technologies -- Erik Brynjolfsson, Daniel Rock and Chad Syverson. 6. How Should We Measure the Digital Economy? -- Erik Brynjolfsson and Avinash Collis. 7. GDP-B: Accounting for the Value of New and Free Goods in the Digital Economy -- Erik Brynjolfsson, Avinash Collis, W. Erwin Diewert, Felix Eggers & Kevin J. Fox. 8. Digital Capital and Superstar Firms -- Prasanna Tambe, Lorin Hitt, Daniel Rock & Erik Brynjolfsson. 9. Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work -- Congressional Testimony of Erik Brynjolfsson (September 24, 2019). 10. Do Digital Platforms Reduce Moral Hazard? The Case of Uber and Taxis -- Meng Liu, Erik Brynjolfsson and Jason Dowlatabadi. 11. Does Machine Translation Affect International Trade? -- Erik Brynjolfsson, Xiang Hui & Meng Liu. 12. The Economics of Superstars -- Sherwin Rosen. 13. General Purpose Technologies "Engines of Growth?" -- Timothy F. Bresnahan & Manuel Trajtenberg. 14. Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism -- Anne Case and Angus Deaton. 15. Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren -- John Maynard Keynes. 16. Understanding QE in the New World -- Episode 10 of Brave New World (w Paul Sheard). 17. The Nature of Intelligence -- Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann LeCun). 18. Uplift the Unremarkables -- Episode 2 of Brave New World (w Scott Galloway).

Ep 17: Peter Railton on Moral Intuitions Jul 22, 2021

How do we come upon our morality? How much of our moral judgement is intuitive and how much is learned? Moral philosopher Peter Railton joins Vasant Dhar in episode 17 of Brave New World to talk about his thinking in this area -- and also how the fields of ethics and AI are colliding. Useful resources: 1. Facts, Values, and Norms: Essays toward a Morality of Consequence -- Peter Railton. 2. Moral Learning: Conceptual foundations and normative relevance -- Peter Railton. 3. Ethical Learning, Natural and Artificial -- Peter Railton. 4. Ethics of Artificial Intelligence -- S Matthew Liao (Editor) 5. Can a Machine Have Human Values? -- Episode 13 of Brave New World (w Brian Christian). 6. Are We Becoming a New Species? -- Episode 12 of Brave New World (w Molly Crockett). 7. Samuel Moyn on Humane War -- Episode 16 of Brave New World. 8. Human-level performance in 3D multiplayer games with population-based reinforcement learning -- Max Jaderberg et al. 9. A multi-agent reinforcement learning model of common-pool resource appropriation -- Julien Perolat et al.

Ep 16: Samuel Moyn on Humane War Jul 08, 2021

Is a humane war a contradiction in terms? Can rules be made and followed that limit the damage that wars do, or will that make conflict perpetual? Is it necessary and moral for the USA to continue to be the policeman of the world? Samuel Moyn joins Vasant Dhar in episode 16 of Brave New World to tackle the thorny ethical and practical questions around warfare and terrorism as technologies become more precise and lethal. Useful resources: 1. Humane: How the United States Abandoned Peace and Reinvented War -- Samuel Moyn. 2. Samuel Moyn's books on Amazon.

Ep 15: Nandan Nilekani on an Egalitarian Internet Jun 24, 2021

The internet began with an Age of Innocence, which gave way to the Age of Commerce, driven by the advertising model. Nandan Nilekani joins Vasant Dhar in episode 15 of Brave New World to describe how we have now entered the Age of Geopolitics, in which nation states are jostling for power with big tech companies, while tailoring regulation based on their needs and aspirations. They also discuss Nandan's pioneering role in building India's data empowerment architecture -- which the rest of the world can learn from in designing systems that empower individuals as well as societies. Useful resources: 1. Nandan Nilekani's books on Amazon. 2. "Rogue Intermediaries": Designing Equitable Digital Playgrounds -- Arun Mohan Sukumar. 3. Agile Tech Regulation -- Rahul Matthan. 4. Why anti-trust is antiquated for Big Tech -- Charles Assisi.

Ep 14: Bias, Lies, and Democracy Jun 10, 2021

Is our democracy in peril? What role has the media played in this? What should we do about it? Ali Velshi joins Vasant Dhar in episode 14 of Brave New World to discuss the subtleties of bias, fake news, information consumption and what to do about social media. Useful resources: 1. Ali Velshi on Twitter and Instagram. 2. Understanding QE in the New World -- Episode 10 of Brave New World (w Paul Sheard). 3. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). 4. Can a Machine Have Human Values? -- Episode 13 of Brave New World (w Brian Christian). 5. The Social Media Industrial Complex -- Episode 3 of Brave New World (w Sinan Aral).

Ep 13: Can a Machine Have Human Values? May 27, 2021

As artificial intelligence gets more and more powerful, the need becomes greater to ensure that machines do the right thing. But what does that even mean? Brian Christian joins Vasant Dhar in episode 13 of Brave New World to discuss, as the title of his new book goes, the alignment problem. Useful resources: 1. Brian Christian's homepage. 2. The Alignment Problem: Machine Learning and Human Values -- Brian Christian. 3. Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions -- Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths. 4. The Most Human Human -- Brian Christian. 5. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). 6. Are We Becoming a New Species? -- Episode 12 of Brave New World (w Molly Crockett). 7. The Nature of Intelligence -- Episode 7 of Brave New World (w Yann le Cunn) 8. Some Moral and Technical Consequences of Automation -- Norbert Wiener. 9.Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies -- Nick Bostrom. 10. Human Compatible: AI and the Problem of Control -- Stuart Russell. 11. OpenAI. 12. Center for Human-Compatible AI. 13. Concrete Problems in AI Safety -- Dario Amodei, Chris Olah, Jacob Steinhardt, Paul Christiano, John Schulman, Dan Mané. 14. Machine Bias -- Julia Angwin, Jeff Larson, Surya Mattu and Lauren Kirchner. 15. Inherent Trade-Offs in the Fair Determination of Risk Scores -- Jon Kleinberg, Sendhil Mullainathan, Manish Raghavan. 16. Algorithmic Decision Making and the Cost of Fairness -- Sam Corbett-Davies, Emma Pierson, Avi Feller, Sharad Goel, Aziz Huq.. 17. Predictions Put Into Practice -- Jessica Saunders, Priscillia Hunt, John S. Hollywood 18. An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial Models Shape Markets -- Donald MacKenzie. 19. An Anthropologist on Mars -- Oliver Sacks. 20. Deep Reinforcement Learning from Human Preferences -- Paul F Christiano, Jan Leike, Tom B Brown, Miljan Martic, Shane Legg, Dario Amadei for OpenAI & Deep Mind.

Ep 12: Are We Becoming a New Species? May 13, 2021

Social media is changing human behavior. How and why are humans being transformed by algorithms? Molly Crockett joins Vasant Dhar in episode 12 of Brave New World to describe her work at the meeting place of technology and morality. Useful resources: 1. Molly Crockett at Yale, Oxford Neuroscience, Google Scholar and Twitter. 2. Crockett Lab. 3. Moral outrage in the digital age -- MJ Crockett. 4. The MAD Model of Moral Contagion: The Role of Motivation, Attention, and Design in the Spread of Moralized Content Online -- William J Brady, MJ Crockett and Jay J Van Bavel. 5. Inference of trustworthiness from intuitive moral judgments -- Jim AC Everett, David A Pizarro and MJ Crockett. 6. The Social Media Industrial Complex -- Episode 3 of Brave New World (w Sinan Aral). 7. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt). 8. A computational reward learning account of social media engagement -- Björn Lindström and others. 9. The Alignment Problem -- Brian Christian. 10. You and the Algorithm: It Takes Two to Tango -- Nick Clegg. 11. Moral Learning: Conceptual foundations and normative relevance -- Peter Railton. 12. The social dilemma of autonomous vehicles -- Jean-François Bonnefon, Azim Shariff and Iyad Rahwan. 13. Emotion shapes the diffusion of moralized content in social networks -- William J Brady and others.

Ep 11: The Future of Liberal Education Apr 29, 2021

In these polarised times, what should the colleges of tomorrow look like? Michael S Roth, the president of Wesleyan University, joins Vasant Dhar in episode 11 of Brave New World to discuss his vision for liberal education. We should empower individuals, he says, by designing for serendipity. Useful resources: 1. Safe Enough Spaces -- Michael S Roth. 2. Beyond the University -- Michael S Roth. 3. 'Minds Wide Shut' Review: Dogma, Division and Distrust -- Michael S Roth. 4. Forgiveness in an age of cancel culture -- Michael S Roth. 5. Higher Education Must Stand Up for Voting Rights -- Michael S Roth. 6. Reasoning in Rough Times -- Michael S Roth. 7. A Focus on Critical Feeling -- Michael S Roth. 8. How Social Media Threatens Society -- Episode 8 of Brave New World (w Jonathan Haidt).

Ep 10: Understanding QE in the New World Apr 15, 2021

Covid was a shock to the global economy. Policy makers have responded with Quantitative Easing. Paul Sheard joins Vasant Dhar in episode 10 of Brave New World to discuss the nuances of QE and its possible impacts. Also discussed: the role of monetary policy in this changing tech landscape, helicopter money and the big question of the 21st century. (Listen to find out!) Useful resources: 1. Quantitative Easing - Explaining It and Dispelling the Myths -- Paul Sheard. 2. MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) – What Is It and Can It Help? -- Paul Sheard. 3. Don't Lose Sleep Over Mounting Government Debt -- Paul Sheard. 4. A More Robust Macroeconomic Policy Framework Is Needed -- Paul Sheard. 5. The Economic Impact of AI -- Paul Sheard. 6. Bank of International Settlements: Central bank digital currencies: foundational principals and core features. 7. Group of Thirty: Digital Currencies and Stablecoins: Risks, Opportunities, and Challenges Ahead.

Ep 9: Waiting for Doctor AI Apr 01, 2021

Artificial intelligence can transform healthcare -- and the medical profession may be behind the curve. Regina Barzilay joins Vasant Dhar in episode 9 of Brave New World to talk about how doctors, programmers and lawyers need to find a meeting point to make the revolution happen. Useful resources: 1. Regina Barzilay at MIT CSAIL and MIT J-Clinic. 2. A Deep Learning Approach to Antibiotic Discovery -- Regina Barzilay and others. 3. Toward robust mammography-based models for breast cancer risk -- Regina Barzilay and others. 4. Multi-Objective Molecule Generation using Interpretable Substructures -- Regina Barzilay and others. 5. Human and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare -- Episode 4 of Brave New World (w Eric Topol). 6. Artificial Intelligence — The Revolution Hasn't Happened Yet -- Michael Jordan. 7. Intelligible Models for HealthCare: Predicting Pneumonia Risk and Hospital 30-day Readmission -- Rich Caruana and others.

Ep 8: How Social Media Threatens Society Mar 18, 2021

The internet has changed our lives, mostly for the better. But there is a flip side. Jonathan Haidt joins Vasant Dhar in episode 8 of Brave New World to describe how social media is a threat to democracy and public discourse -- and to the mental health of a generation. Useful resources: 1. The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion -- Jonathan Haidt. 2. The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure -- Jonathan Haidt. 3. The website for The Coddling, especially its suggestions on How To Improve Social Media. 4. The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom -- Jonathan Haidt. 5. The Social Media Industrial Complex -- Episode 3 of Brave New World (w Sinan Aral). 6. The Dark Psychology of Social Networks -- Jonathan Haidt and Tobias Rose-Stockwell. 7. The Federalist Papers -- Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay.

Ep 7: The Nature of Intelligence Mar 04, 2021

Trying to build artificial intelligence can teach us so much about intelligence itself. AI pioneer Yann LeCun, a winner of the Turing Award, joins Vasant Dhar in episode 7 of Brave New World to discuss how the field of AI has evolved and where it is heading. Points of discussion: How machines that perceive the world have turbocharged AI. How one of the biggest challenges in deep learning is common sense. The interface between industry and the academy. And how consciousness may not be a superpower but a reflection of our limitations. Useful resources: 1. Yann LeCun's homepage. 2. Yann LeCun's papers. 3. Language and Learning: The Debate between Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky -- Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini (editor). 4. Perceptrons: An Introduction to Computational Geometry -- Marvin Minsky & Seymour Papert. 5. Her -- Spike Jonze.

Ep 6: The China Question Feb 18, 2021

How should the Biden administration treat China? The same way the Trump administration did, Peter Berkowitz tells Vasant Dhar in episode 6 of Brave New World. The USA, argues Berkowitz, must not lose sight of its core values as a great democracy. Useful resources: 1. The Elements of the China Challenge -- The Policy Planning Staff, Office of the Secretary of State. 2. Report of the Commission on Unalienable Rights. 3. The Hundred-Year Marathon: China's Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower -- Michael Pillsbury.

Ep 5: Law and Education in Our Modern World Feb 04, 2021

We live in a different world than we did 30 years ago. How can law and education adapt to the disruptions of technology and politics? John Sexton joins Vasant Dhar in episode 5 of Brave New World to share his insights as an educator who tried to forge a way ahead. Useful resources: 1. Standing for Reason: The University in a Dogmatic Age -- John Sexton. 2. Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game -- John Sexton.

Ep 4: Human and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Jan 21, 2021

Despite amazing scientific advances, why is our healthcare system failing us today? It is rife with mistakes and lacks care. Can artificial intelligence aid the human touch in healthcare? Eric Topol joins Vasant Dhar in episode 4 of Brave New World to discuss how doctors and machines can come together to improve our lives and move us towards a world of individualized medicine. Useful resources: Deep Medicine by Eric Topol, as well as his other books.

Ep 3: The Social Media Industrial Complex Jan 07, 2021

Can social media platforms change our society? Sinan Aral joins Vasant Dhar in episode 3 of Brave New World to share his concerns. Useful resources: The Hype Machine by Sinan Aral, as well as Sinan's website, videos and research.

Ep 2: Uplift the Unremarkables Dec 24, 2020

In this no-holds-barred conversation with Vasant Dhar, Scott Galloway shreds the myth of American mobility. He urges our institutions, especially universities, to shed their obsession with the elites, and instead uplift the 'unremarkables.' Useful resources: 1. Post Corona: From Crisis to Opportunity -- Scott Galloway. 2. No Mercy / No Malice -- Scott Galloway's newsletter. 3. The Prof G Show with Scott Galloway. 4. Pivot, hosted by Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway. 5. The Third Pillar -- Raghuram Rajan.

Ep 1: The Technology Wars Dec 10, 2020

In the Internet era, war is about tech. Technology platforms are the new power players of our times, alongside the state. Arun Sundararajan joins Vasant Dhar to discuss how the Internet is shaping the power dynamic between individuals, platforms and the state, the choices that confront us and their consequences. They discuss the US-China war, who is winning, and what it all means for us. Useful resources: 1. The Sharing Economy: The End of Employment and the Rise of Crowd-Based Capitalism -- Arun Sundararajan. 2. 3 Ways to Increase Social Media Platforms' Transparency -- Vasant Dhar. 3. Who Controls Your Data? -- Vasant Dhar. 4. Platforms and Ecosystems: Enabling the Digital Economy -- Michael G. Jacobides, Arun Sundararajan & Marshall Van Alstyne. For more, do visit the Brave New World website.

Ep 0: Welcome to Brave New World Dec 03, 2020

The role of tech in our lives has accelerated in the post-COVID era, creating a 'virtual' existence with low physical human contact. It has transformed how we work, govern, stay healthy, worship, invest, entertain, and much more. In this preview episode, Vasant Dhar -- a longtime AI researcher and data scientist -- tells us about the forthcoming mind-opening conversations with leading experts will discuss the world that our future selves will inhabit.

Upcoming guests include:

Scott Galloway: Author, entrepreneur and visionary, Professor NYU. Sinan Aral: Professor MIT, author of The Hype Machine. Yann Lecun: Turing award winner 2019, Chief Scientist, Facebook, Professor NYU. Richard Thaler: Nobel Laureate in Economics 2017, Professor University of Chicago. John Sexton: 15th President of NYU (2002-2015), Professor of law, NYU. Eric Topol: Professor of Molecular Medicine, Scripps Research. Nandan Nilekani: needs no introduction.

Welcome to Brave New World!

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